At Death's Door Read online

  “Somethin’ wrong, hun? Yer lookin’ at me as though somethin’s wrong,” a southern accent I hadn’t picked up earlier made her seem gentle. I shook my head. She can’t be gentle. She must be some sick joke or some failed experiment of the Vie’s. She must be here to kill me. I went to reach for my bow until I remembered I wasn’t wearing anything. Damn it.

  “Oh calm down, lil’ red. I’m not Vie, I’m Foi,” she said with a relaxing smile.

  “Foi? What’s Foi?” I asked confused.

  “Foi is a lesser known race, famous for the Foi Witch’s control over our weather,” she explained. I shook my head in disbelief but didn’t voice it. I had more pressing matters on my mind.

  “Who are you? Better yet where am I and how did I get here?” I rushed in asking the questions in fear that this was going to be my only opportunity.

  “My name’s Eris Anne Jackson, and this is my lovely home yer sitting in,” she smiled showing off all of her white teeth, but for once the sharpness of her teeth didn’t give me an uneasy feeling, no, it made me smile.

  “Now,” she continued, “as to how you got here, well that is a bit unknown on my end.” I looked at her funny and shook my head.

  “You can’t be living here by yourself, you look sixteen at the most.” She looked taken aback.

  “I don’t live here alone and I sure as hell am not sixteen. I’m seventeen,” she said looking proud. I sighed and was about to ask who else could possibly be here when a huge crash sounded through the room.

  “What was that?” I asked standing up gingerly, holding my side. I looked around and started walking towards one of the bookshelves looking for what caused the noise.

  “Madam please do get back in bed, I do not want your stitches to come undone,” I spun around startled and saw an unusual sight. A woman stood before me, but she looked like a small girl. Her hair went down to her chin and slanted up until it was boy short in the back. It was also dark gray with bright blue streaks. Her face was gentle and her skin had a slight silver tint to it, but her eyes were a strange red color that seemed to glow even in the light. A spot that was barely showing behind her hair was dark but glowing blue wires, and gears appeared here and there. To an idiot, she seemed human, but even I knew that she was far from it.

  “Now my dear please lay back down,” I realized that she was still talking to me and shook off the grogginess that had formed and did as she asked. She followed me and shook her head.

  “Cerise, you need to start being more careful,” the girl said. I noticed just how metalic her voice sounded. Almost as though there were two voices talking at once.

  “So many questions, like what are you, how do you know my name, and how the hell did I get here!” I asked far from irritated. She just sighed.

  “She’s an M0NV 11SV,” Eris replied matter-of-factly, “she knows almost everyone’s name.”

  “What’s an m0-whatever you said?” I asked a bit perplexed.

  “I am M0NV 11SV, or Mona Lisa, but I very much prefer to be called Mona,” Mona sighed, “I used to be a robotic system for the Vie but I ran after I found out why they needed me. That’s a story for another time, though.”

  “Okay, but how did I get here?”

  “I was following Thim and I witnessed you two fighting, or well, you on the ground and her putting you in as much pain as possible. When she left and I had made sure she was gone I grabbed you and flew,” she said smiling, showing off perfect teeth.

  “Flew? I don’t see any wings,” I pointed out. Eris giggled and started backing away as I sat there confused.

  “What?” I looked between Eris and Mona, “Answer the question.” Mona walked to the middle of the room and smirked.

  “Stand back, please,” she said as she shook her arms to loosen them. (She later told me that she was fixing some gears.) She turned around and stood still. When nothing happened I stood up and started walking towards her when something sprang from her back causing me to fall on my ass. I looked up and saw two silver metal wings that looked just like long, curved knives closely packed together on either side of her back. The slight bluish tint to her wings made them seem almost angelic. I slowly stood up and gawked in awe.

  “What the even hell,” I muttered going in for a closer look, “how do you even fly with those things?”

  “Same way airplanes do only without the propellers,” Mona replied retracting them back into herself.

  “What?” I asked confused. Eris whispered something into Mona’s ear and stood there blushing.

  “Oh, I forgot you are one of the damned. I can fly because of how lightweight my wings are,” Mona shrugged. I rubbed my temple and shook my head.

  “Lil’ red, maybe you should get some sleep,” Eris offered.

  “You’re lucky I’m too tired to kick your ass for calling me ‘little red’” I sighed as I laid down. Mona came over to redo the stitches on my side as I let my mind wander. I thought about Lily and her gross boyfriend. I thought about mom and that strange skeleton mask she kept by her bed, or maybe it was one of those bandanas you put over your mouth, I forget. I thought about Gabriel’s Shimmer, Puff-puff. That thing is fluffy. Then I thought about Gabriel… Where the hell is Gabriel?! I sat up quickly causing Mona to stab me in the side with her needle.

  “Cerise!” Mona yelled as she slowly pulled the needle out, “Lie back down and hold still.”

  “No no no! Where’s Gabriel? I’m not sleeping until I know where Gabriel is,” I demanded.

  “Is Gabriel yer man?” Eris said.

  “No, but he’s my responsibility,” I muttered. Mona rolled her eyes.

  “You are not gonna let me finish until you get your way will you?” she asked. I shook my head and watched as she stood up and handed the needle to Eris.

  “Um, no lil’ missy. This boy will probably take better to someone who isn’t mostly metal,” Eris said as she got up and spread her black, angelic wings.

  “You have a point, but you look like one of the things the reapers hate. Plus I can track him down,” Mona replied, hands on her hips. Eris sighed and looked at me.

  “Undo it when I leave,” she said tackling Mona to the ground.

  “Eris no! No! No! No!” Mona shouted as Eris managed to get her on her stomach.

  “I’m sorry but it’s for yer own good,” Eris said through clenched teeth as she started doing something to Mona’s back.

  “No no, no n-” Suddenly Mona stopped talking and just laid there motionless. Eris got up and brushed herself off.

  “Upside to her bein’ half human is that she doesn’t feel much pain. The downside to her bein’ half robotic is that she can be turned on and off,” Eris muttered, striding towards the wooden door, “you know, kinda like yer boyfriend.” Before I could say otherwise she was already out the door. I sighed and looked down at Mona.

  “I guess I should wake you up, huh,” I scoffed and looked at her back, “what do I do?” I searched for a while and started hitting random buttons. Finally, after what seemed like hours of messing with this and that, she started to come back. She glared up at me and sighed. It wasn’t the cold look of her red eyes that got to me, no, it was what she said next.

  “You look a lot like your mother, you know, but you will have your father’s eyes,” she turned away from me and slowly stood up. “I do not want to be here when that happens.”

  “Wait, what do you mean by that?” I asked. She grabbed her needle and finished stitching my side, causing me to wince. She got up and walked towards a metal door, but stopped when she got there.

  “You really have no clue, do you? No idea who your father really was?” she sighed and opened the door, “Get some rest. Your friend will be here in the morning.” And with that, she left.

  Chapter 4

  I laid there staring at the ceiling, Mona’s words swimming through my head.

  “You will have your father’s eyes… I do not want to be here when that happens.”

  What did she mean by that? I
’ll have my father’s eyes? My father’s eyes were silver and he was a Keymaster…

  “No idea who your father really was?”

  Right?

  My thoughts were interrupted by yelling coming from behind the wooden door.

  “Where is she? Where’s Cerise? Who the hell are you?” I bolted up. Gabriel! Eris came in holding Gabriel’s arms behind his back.

  “Let go of me you black-eyed freak!” he screamed trying to get away. I forgot how mean he could be when he’s pissed. Eris rolled her eyes and tossed something at me.

  “Ya might want to put this on before his eyes get used to the dark,” I nodded and threw on what she gave me. She smiled and pushed Gabriel deeper into the room before shutting the door behind herself and letting him go. He stood there swinging his arms trying to connect with something. Eris laughed and turned on the lights.

  “Welcome to my place. Please don’t break anythin’,” Eris said as Gabriel took a look around until his eyes landed on me.

  “Cerise?” he was wide-eyed and spoke in barely a whisper. He had a cut above his left eye and a bruise forming on his cheek. If he looks bad then I must look terrible. I took this time to look at what Eris had given me. I sat on the cot in long white pants and a long-sleeved white shirt. As it turned out Mona was able to get the blood out of my clothes and patch them up.

  “Cerise, is that really you?” his voice snapped me back to reality.

  “Yeah it’s me,” I replied smiling. He walked up to me slowly and stood in front of me. He smiled and suddenly slapped me.

  “Nice job Snowdrop! Almost get yourself killed why don’t you! Not only did you get hurt, but that...that thing took the fucking soul we were after!” I sat there as he ranted on and on.

  “Then you go ahead and make friends with that freak of nature!” he yelled pointing at Eris who just shrugged looking bored, “What the even hell is that thing?” I was seething by the time he was done.

  “Her name is Eris Jackson and she is part of the Foi, she isn’t one of them,” I spat.

  “Of course you would know. Now what the hell are we doing here!” he continued to yell.

  “He is definitely a feisty one, is he not?” Mona said walking through the metal door.

  “Who the hell are you?” Gabriel demanded.

  “Mona Lisa. Pleased to meet you,” Mona replied with an outstretched hand. Gabriel shook it cautiously and stepped back.

  “Good, now that we’re on a first name basis let’s have our guests here in on the bit of info we got,” Eris said walking over to Mona. Gabriel glared at them and stood just behind me. I heard the ring before I felt his katana inches from my back.

  “Gabriel, put that away,” I whispered.

  “Yes, could you, please? Cause I’m sure you can wait until after we leave to whip that out,” Eris replied. I couldn’t believe she said it with a straight face. It took Gabriel a minute to understand what she said.

  “Whoa! No no no. We’re not a thing,” he assured motioning to both of us with his katana. “She’s a miss-know-it-all Snowdrop and a pain in the ass!”

  “Gabriel,” I tried getting his attention.

  “She’s a loudmouth and a brat.”

  “Gabriel,” I said louder.

  “She’s a bitch, she’s risky, and she’s a freak.”

  “Gabriel!” I yelled.

  “What!” he yelled back.

  “Shut up and listen to them for Goddess sakes!”

  “Oh, why? So they can brainwash me into liking them just like they did to you!”

  “You conceited little jerk! For once can you just listen to what you’re told?”

  “I don’t care you little-.”

  “Shut up!” I screamed interrupting him. The entire room shook and a good sized book fell from the shelf and smacked Gabriel in the head, knocking him out. Eris whistled and Mona just shook her head. We all stood in silence just looking at his unconscious body. I was shocked. How did I…

  “Miss, you’ll be mighty scary when it all comes crashing down,” Eris commented ever so softly.

  “Thorn would be proud of you, though,” Mona wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

  “Who?” I was confused. Mona rolled her eyes and looked at me. I watched as her eyes got brighter and brighter until two beams of light came out of her eyes. I followed the beam and saw one person. The person looked like a young woman. She had unbelievably long white hair that she kept in pigtails twisted near her head. Her skin looked paler than mine. She wore a deep purple tunic under deep silver armor. She had what seemed like milky white eyes, almost as though she was…

  “She was blind, I think,” I looked up and saw Eris staring at me sadly, “but yet she was the best sword fighter in Arou. Or anywhere for that matter.” I guess she noticed me looking at the woman’s eyes. I nodded my head and looked back at the woman. If she was blind then no one knew about it cause if they did she would’ve gotten rid of her. She seemed happy, though, really really happy.

  “Her name is Thorn,” I was startled when I heard Mona’s voice. “Thorn Arbellis. She was a reaper just like you. One of the best actually. Heh, she raised you well.” That’s when it hit me. The white hair, the familiar smile… That woman is my mother! All she was missing was her eyepatch.

  “H-how did you know my mom?” I asked a bit nervously.

  “She helped me to escape the Vie when they were killin’ my people,” Eris whispered.

  “And she helped me to get out of their base when I ran away,” Mona replied.

  “I understand Mona’s story but I didn’t know there was more of you?” I asked Eris. She looked at the ground sadly.

  Suddenly Mona started beeping.

  “Trouble at the castle,” Mona cried, turning off the image, “Come on, we will explain when we get there.” Eris carried Gabriel as Mona led us to a small (I’m being generous here) area behind the metal door. Mona had us stand on a metal pad as she pressed a few buttons. A soft blue light appeared above us and below us, as she joined us on the pad…it’s a teleport device. Of course, it is...she’s a robot with metal wings that she can use to fly so why wouldn’t she have a teleport device.

  “Why are we using this?” I asked confused.

  “Well, it’s not like we’re still in Valabin. See when my village was attacked yer mom helped me to get here. Mona ended up here on her own,” Eris said shifting Gabriel’s weight on her shoulder, “plus you can’t fly and we need to get there quickly.” I just nodded my head in response. I noticed a soft buzzing noise that seemed to get louder and louder as lights above and below us got brighter.

  “Hold on tight,” Mona said just as I got zapped. I gasped as the feel surged through me, but it left just as soon as it came.

  “What the hell…” I opened my eyes and was shocked to see that we weren’t in that dark room anymore.

  “Welcome to Tania, home of the Witch of Death!” Mona said, “Or at least what is left of it.” All around us were ashes and stone. The only thing still standing was a small white castle, blackened by the smoke.

  Chapter 5

  “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” I heard Eris mumble as I saw a few lights shining in some places and was about to ask when.

  “Put me down you black-eyed bitch!” Gabriel was unfortunately awake. Eris rolled her eyes and threw him down. He stood up and brushed himself off.

  “Be a little more gentle next…” he looked around, “..time...no..no.no no no no no no no!” We watched as he ran towards the kingdom. I looked at the girls and ran after him. I saw their shadows before I saw them flying over my head. Everything I passed was covered in ashes. A few hands or tufts of hair showed the only sign that anyone once lived here.

  “Who could do such a thing?” I heard Mona mutter just as we heard Gabriel scream. I ran faster and found him in a pile of ash clutching a body. I could see tears running down his cheeks as he rocked back and forth. Mona and Eris landed beside me and stood there not knowing what to do. Mona walked off somewhe
re as I and Eris tried to think of something to calm him down. Nothing could help him, though.

  “Hey, Eris! You might want to look at this,” Mona yelled catching our attention. Eris walked over to her while I followed, leaving Gabriel alone to his grief. Mona was standing over a body when we came over.

  “Look familiar?” Mona asked Eris, nodding to the body. I could see Eris swallowing hard as she nodded her head. I was confused.

  “What’s wrong with it?” I asked. Mona pointed to the face. I looked down at it and was shocked to see that the lights I saw earlier were coming from...from people. The light was pouring from their eyes and mouths.

  “What the hell!” I asked backing up.

  “We need to get to the castle, I will explain on the way,” Mona said taking flight, Eris not too far behind. I rolled my eyes and ran after them. When we got there I was out of breath so I stood there panting.

  “How are you outta breath? Yer a reaper,” Eris said when she saw me doubled over.

  “I might be a reaper, but oh Goddess I’m out of shape,” I replied as Eris just shook her head and headed into the castle. We walked into what I figured was the throne room. Who needs a throne room if there is no queen? Anyways there was only one body in there. She had blue bangs that seemed to curve under her hair and the rest of it was black. Her dress matched her hair, mostly blue with black accents. The vine-like design of her necklace was black with a blue oval pearl in the center. Around her right eye was a light blue design that reminded me of the type of tattoos I’ve seen surfers in the mortal world walking around with. Like the others, light poured from her mouth but her eyes stayed clear. Odd...the left one was light blue while the other one was black like Lily’s. Her hand was resting on the wall just under one of the paintings.

  “What’s that?” I asked pointing to the painting, “Who’s that? And what is up with the light?”

  “Her name is Ella. She was the Witch of your species and-” Mona got cut off by a loud crash that sounded like ten panes of glass breaking at once. We looked at each other and followed the sound. We came to a dark purple door with a shattered heart in the middle of it just when more noises ensued. Eris and Mona got ready for a fight while I got ready to open the door. We counted down from three and I threw open the door. I watched as something whizzed by and hit Mona in the face making her head whip to the side as though someone slapped her. She stared at what appeared to be a broken vase on the floor. We all looked into the room to see none other than Gabriel breaking things in a fit of...rage I guess? When the hell did he get here? Mona’s expression said it all. She was done with him. I watched her pull one of the metal pieces that made up her wings from her back as she walked into the room and shut the door. Eris and I stood in shock as the crashes ceased, screaming started, and more things were broken. We had no idea what to do.